Grade 1: Hopes and Dreams Take Flight

To introduce the activity, the class read “The Dreamer” by Il Sung Na, a story about a pig who dreams of flying. Despite setbacks along the way, he keeps trying and ultimately makes his dream a reality. His journey gave students a starting point for thinking about their own goals and what it might take to reach them.

“The kids love the illustrations, and it brings up great conversations about failure, growth mindset, asking for help, and not giving up,” Mrs. Palma said. “These are all things we talk about a lot at the beginning of first grade, and it ties really well into setting goals for the year.”

Students then worked in pairs to share a school-related hope, dream, or goal. After talking through their ideas, each first grader wrote a specific goal in a complete sentence and created an illustration to accompany it. Some of their goals included improving on the monkey bars, staying positive during challenging tasks, and building something in Tinker Time to help a pet snake.

The activity also gave Mrs. Palma a chance to learn more about each student’s interests and aspirations as she looks ahead to a year of growth.

“One of my favorite things about first grade is just how much the kids grow in one year,” Mrs. Palma said. “They become so much more confident and independent, both academically and socially. I especially love watching them grow as readers and writers and seeing those moments when things really start to click. I’m looking forward to seeing this class discover their own strengths, take more risks, and become a close-knit classroom community that supports and learns from one another.”